A Bunny Rabbit and a Trench Coat
by Anrheithwyr
Summary: She'd stolen it because it smelled like Lee; she wanted to remember the way Lee smelled, over the painful months that she wouldn't get to see him.


_**Written for the 'HP Potions Competition' by Black Boxed for the category **__**Amortentia**__** – Write about someone who is obsessed about something or someone. **_

_**Also written for the 'If You Dare Challenge' by Slytherin Cat, using prompt # 11, trench coat. **_

_**Lastly, written for the 'Your Favourite Under-Appreciated Pairing Challenge' by Snarky and Proud Hufflepuff, using the pairing Lee Jones&Lavender Brown. **_

….

She wore his trench coat, a dirty, dusty thing that she hadn't washed in ages, and absolutely _refused _to, because it still smelled like him. It still had his scent on it, and she'd often fall asleep at night, inhaling Lee's smell, dreaming that he was there with her, holding her hands as she slept. She hadn't let anyone touch the jacket, ignoring Parvati's complaints that it was unsanitary, and Neville's suggestions that made she ought to just leave the jacket in her hammock. After all, he told her, there were twenty other people sharing the Room of Requirement, and the trench coat was kind of getting grubby.

But, Lavender refused to take the coat off for longer than it took to change clothes, or take a quick shower, his coat sitting close by at all times. Lavender still wasn't sure where he'd picked up the coat, but she had stolen it from his flat the last time she'd visited, and he never asked for it back. And, even though there were twenty people with her in the Room of Requirement, none of them were Lee. None of them _smelled _like Lee did; she would have taken the coat off, if Lee were with her, but he never came. The coat stayed on.

Parvati thought she might be unwell, possibly a bit unreasonable, _up there_, but Lavender felt fine. She wasn't sick, or mad, or anything of that sort; she just missed her boyfriend, and was trying to find some sort of physical connection that kept her tied to him. She wasn't obsessed, or anything, she just needed some way to remember him. Some way to permanently tie herself to him, even if it was through a faded old trench coat. It was beginning to smell like _her_, now, but she didn't want to let go.

She didn't want to let go of Lee.

She was afraid he might let go of her.

….

"_You can have it," he said, nodding towards her bag. She looked at him in shock, startled to realise he had known all along she had his coat with her. Lavender thought he just hadn't noticed it was missing all this time, but if it smelt so strongly of him-he must have been closely attached to it as well. Lee chuckled, giving her a grin, which she had missed terribly these past few months. "I knew the day you took it, Lavender. But, what's that matter? I stole one of your stuffed bunny dolls. It smells like you, a bit."_

_Lavender laughed, realising they'd both been thinking the same thing; they'd both missed each terribly. This year, her last year, had been the hardest of all, knowing Lee wasn't there with her to joke around with, or hold hands, or defend her from the Carrows. He had clearly missed her, too, though. He had _missed _her, something Lavender hadn't given much thought to, until now. _

"_Happy Christmas, Lee," she said, leaning in and kissing him deeply. _

….

Lee held the coat in his hands, standing over a too-small grave, tears in his eyes. He could vaguely feel the shape of a stuffed toy bunny, whose fur was fading, and was missing a tail. The rabbit didn't smell like Lavender anymore; the coat certainly didn't smell like him. They hadn't really, properly talked since Christmas, and only in passing at the battle, when she had shown him the coat, which she was still wearing, even then. The next time he saw her, she was just another body under a sheet, still wearing the coat, which Madame Pomfrey was trying to remove.

"Can I have it?" he had asked, and she more than gladly gave it to him, calling it a safety hazard. And, now, Lee was standing over Lavender's grave, with a bunny rabbit wrapped up in a dingy trench coat. Behind him, Alicia was waiting for him, her eyes dull and her face drawn. She looked tired and stressed; they were all stressed-distraught. And Lee was at his girlfriend's-_not your girlfriend anymore, she'd dead_-grave, trying not to cry. Trying not to lose it. Just then, Lee seemed to hear a voice that sounded oddly like Lavender. (_You're crazy, mate.)_

"Take care of her for me, Lee. We're done, but she still needs you." The voice whispered in his ear, and Lee nodded, taking one last look at Alicia. He dropped the coat with the bunny inside of the grave carefully, whispering his good-byes, and walked away, tears in his eyes. He was leaving his love behind-but he was still young, still capable of finding more. Lavender was gone, moved on. He loved her….she would want him to be happy.

A bunny, wrapped inside a trench coat, sitting inside a grave, laying on top of an eighteen year old girl, who had found love. _A girl who had found the greatest type of obsession. _A bunny rabbit and a trench coat.


End file.
